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I know only what I've heard, that series 4 ended with the 'Goodbye' episode, with Sarah turning out to be seriously ill, but that there were three more stories for series 5, which Liz apparently was in.

How did they handle Sarah's being ill, and did the final episode have any "resolution" aspects to it, or was everything just left hanging?

Have some pity on a Whovian in the States who hasn't had any real access to The Sarah Jane Adventures since SyFy stopped showing them when it apparently cut ties with the BBC.

Sarah's illness in "Goodbye, Sarah Jane Smith" was purely a plot device for that two-parter, and the three stories filmed for series five were ordinary ones, done on the assumption that Sladen would be continuing as normal and filming three more later. The last broadcast of the three completed stories, "The Man Who Never Was," has a closing montage that's valedictory in tone, but it's not something that was planned as a final episode ever, and there's no implication that Sarah Jane is going anywhere.

Sarah's illness in "Goodbye, Sarah Jane Smith" was purely a plot device for that two-parter, and the three stories filmed for series five were ordinary ones, done on the assumption that Sladen would be continuing as normal and filming three more later. The last broadcast of the three completed stories, "The Man Who Never Was," has a closing montage that's valedictory in tone, but it's not something that was planned as a final episode ever, and there's no implication that Sarah Jane is going anywhere.

How did they work out the "plot device" illness in the 'Goodbye' episode?

Plus, I understand another Sarah-type woman was introduced. Was she a bad guy in disguise, or another "crusader" like Sarah?

Any resemblance between "Goodbye, Sarah Jane Smith" and Sladen's real illness was purely coincidental. At the time they wrote and filmed that story, they had no idea that her health was going to take a rapid turn for the worse. She had been through cancer treatment before, but it was in remission at the time. So "Goodbye" was not in any way written to address her real-life illness. As mentioned, they went on to film another half-season after the "Goodbye" storyline -- and it was in the break following that half-season that her cancer returned with a vengeance.

So they simply didn't have time to deal with her illness and death, since it happened so fast. They just cancelled production on the second half of Series 5. As far as the Doctor Who universe is concerned, Sarah Jane and her friends are still alive and active and saving the Earth from Bannerman Road. We just don't get to see it anymore.

You can see it on YouTube here. It's a bunch of short clips from various SJA episodes and Sarah Jane's appearances on new Who, with a voiceover by Sarah Jane drawn from used and unused takes of the ending speech of "The Lost Boy" from series one: "I've seen amazing things out there in space, but strange things can happen wherever you are. I have learned that life on Earth can be an adventure too. In all the universe, I never expected to find a family." Then there's a last shot of the Earth and a title card reading "And the story goes on... forever."

There's a very touching Tribute to Lis Sladen, that was on YouTube shortly after it aired in Britain. I downloaded from YouTube and burned it to DVD, so, I didn't save the bookmark, so, don't know if it's still up, but, I believe it perfectly legitimate being up, so there should be no problem.

I think it was called "Goodbye My Sarah Jane" or Simply "My Sarah Jane"

They were written up in a special edition of Doctor Who Magazine, which I have laying around here but haven't read. One was about Sky ("The Battle of Bannerman Road"), one would have seen Mr. Smith become human, and one is being repurposed as an episode of Wizards vs Aliens ("The Thirteenth Floor").

__________________"The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things don't always soften the bad things. But vice versa, the bad things don't necessarily spoil the good things or make them unimportant."

I wonder whether, as with the Brigadier, will they refer in DW to the character having passed, given that the actor did. Or, given that Liz was so much younger than Nicholas, will they allow her character to live a long life, just not one which the viewer happens to see any more?